The next part of public engagement on the City of Guelph’s growth strategy unfolded on Thursday night as staff and their appointed consultants talked about what kind of growth scenarios there might be in the Royal City’s future. Can we grow fast? Should we grow slow? Should we try and squeeze more people in select areas of town, or spread out that growth? If you’re looking for answers, consult the recap below. Continue reading “RECAP: The City of Guelph Shares Growth Scenarios at Town Hall”
The Christmas season is approaching, but given current events people are going to have to concede that they won’t be able to celebrate the season in a way that’s normal or traditional. On Wednesday, the Government of Ontario outlined its best advice for how people should spend the holidays, while the City of Guelph also announced some measures on how they will work locally to make sure everyone has a safe and COVID-free holiday. Continue reading “City and Province Release Advice for COVID Christmas Celebrations and Shopping”
Over 30 different delegations have signed up to take part in this year’s budget feedback period. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for November 25, 2020”
If the weather last weekend didn’t tip you off, Christmas is coming, and one of the most recognizable signs of the season is the legion of volunteers who stand by the red kettles of the Salvation Army collecting physical money for Christmas programs. This was hard enough in a time of “going cashless” but in the year of COVID, collecting physical money from someone in-person seems doubly unlikely. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #248 – Red Kettle Days”
From safety concerns downtown to property theft and damage in the far east end of the city, there were a lot of police issues discussed at Tuesday’s town hall meeting held by Ward 1 Councillors Dan Gibson and Bob Bell. From the impacts of COVID-19, to changes in Guelph’s crime severity index, to calls to “Defund the Police”, Police Chief Gord Cobey fielded a lot of questions, and offered a lot of answers. This is the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Cobey Faces Tough Questions on Community Safety at Ward 1 Town Hall”
Anecdotally, we know that the pandemic has had a major effect on the charitable, non-profit sector. The economic downturn as a result of lockdowns and other emergency actions have meant more joblessness and more economic need, which creates a perfect storm for non-profits because they’re financial resources have become very limited. Now, data collected by the People and Information Network (PIN) have painted a dire picture. Continue reading “Local Non-Profits Face a “Precarious Landscape” Says PIN”
Council meets to discuss some new appointments to local boards and committees. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for November 23, 2020”
The Ward 5 Councillors interrupted your pleasant Saturday to hold the latest town hall meeting on matters concerning the 2021 budget. Once again, members of the City of Guelph staff joined the conversation as people asked about going deeper on the budget numbers, how to navigate the new budget website, and what the financial impact of the 2021 budget might look like for your household. Continue reading “RECAP: Ward 5 Councillors Hold a Pleasant Saturday Chat on the Budget”
The 2021 Guelph Budget will be finalized in this final (or second-to-last) council meeting on the subject. The road to this day has been shorter than past years, so will the road to making a final decision on the part of council be just as short? How much wiggle room are members of council going to look for in this very unusual budget year? What will the final impact look like? To be determined… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 1 Meeting?”
In what might be a sign that people are realizing that the Provincial Election is now a year-and-a-half away, the Guelph riding association of the Ontario New Democrats sent a press release to the media that didn’t attack the current Provincial government, but attacked the current MPP of Guelph instead. The president of the Guelph NDP is calling out Mike Schreiner for being the odd man out and not supporting an NDP private members bill. Continue reading “Guelph NDP Picks a Fight with Schreiner Over Toll Roads”
Guelph Politico 